SoftBank’s Sumer Juneja joins Oyo board as non-executive director

Oyo, a major player in the hospitality industry, has recently named Sumer Juneja as a non-executive director on its board. This follows his recent appointment as an additional director representing SoftBank. 

Juneja is currently the Managing Director of EMEA & India at SoftBank’s investment advisors and sits on the boards of several companies, including Lenskart, Swiggy, Eruditus, and Unacademy. Before joining SoftBank, he worked at Norwest Venture and Goldman Sachs.

Oyo has just wrapped up a $175 million funding round led by Patient Capital, an investment firm run by Oyo’s founder Ritesh Agarwal. This funding puts Oyo’s valuation at $2.4 billion, a significant drop from its peak valuation of $9.6 billion in August 2021.

Despite these ups and downs, Oyo has managed a turnaround. The company reported a profit of Rs 230 crore for FY24, up from a loss of Rs 1,286 crore in FY23. Their operating revenue for FY24 was Rs 5,389 crore.

Oyo plans to refile its initial public offering (IPO) documents after completing a large funding round. The company had previously withdrawn its IPO papers due to unfavorable market conditions.

In an effort to improve its budget hotel services, Oyo is focusing more on controlling operations at its partner locations, including managing laundry and room services. 

The company has also ventured into the luxury hotel market with its ‘Sunday’ brand, which operates in Jaipur, Chandigarh, and Ahmedabad. Sunday Hotels, a joint venture with SoftBank, aims to open 25 new properties in India by the end of FY25.